§ Mr. Martenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children were admitted to hospital in the last convenient twelve months having taken medicinal tablets in error.
§ Mr. AlisonInformation is not available in the form requested. It is estimated that, in the year 1967, between 12,000 and 15,000 children under the age of 15 were in-patients in hospital in England and Wales because of medicinal poisoning. The poisons involved were:
Further details are given in table 5 of the Report on Hospital In-patient Inquiry for the year 1967, part I.
Number of spells in hospital † Morphine, opium etc. 207 Barbiturates 878 Aspirin and salicylates 5,905 Bromides 22 Other analgesic and soporific 1,383 Sulfonamides 55 Strychnine 22 Belladonna, Hyoscine etc. 1,065 Other unspecified drugs 2,251 Other unspecified drugs and poisons* 3,381 † Estimated total based on 10 per cent. sample. * This includes poisons other than drugs.